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Check out this interview I did with BlackBook on art and power abuse, and the upcoming show at Jacob Lewis Gallery in New York. The show opens this Thursday!
“I think disruption has many dimensions. The courage to do things without permission is important because many laws are biased to favor people with power and money; but it is possible to be disruptive aesthetically, conceptually, while not doing things strictly without permission. And I think that it’s important to understand how to work both inside and outside the system.”
Six Questions About Art and Corruption with Shepard Fairey
by: Ken Scrudato
As the 2016 elections storm the public consciousness (and take sociological farce to a whole new plateau), those willing to speak truth to power still seem few too many in numbers. Enter Shepard Fairey – who for more than two decades has used his art as an incisive aesthetic counterpoint to the dogmatic stultifications wrought by those most in control of our lives and destinies.
With a soothsayer’s sense of timing, then, his first New York solo exhibition in five years opens this Friday at Jacob Lewis Gallery = and sees the indomitable social and cultural agitator once again railing against the forces of greed, venality and injustice. Indeed, On Our Hands takes precise aim so many current villanies, from the abuse of power to the abuse of our alarmingly desecrated environment.
This comes fast on the heels of the City of Detroit filing seemingly contentious and very public charges against Fairey this summer for “defacing public property.” He had been invited to Motor City to paint the largest mural of his career at One Campus Martius, and, as he is wont to do, took it upon himself to further leave his pictorial mark on numerous other locales throughout Michigan’s troubled metropolis.
As the opening approaches, we caught up with him to talk art, and the art of opposition.
Is there a particular reason it’s been five years since your last New York solo exhibition?
I have been showing all over the world, and I’ve had a full schedule of shows; and I did print show with Pace Prints in 2012. But I was waiting for the right gallery, and Jacob Lewis finally got his established. I’m putting more time into each piece, it takes me longer to do the paintings – so I’m doing fewer shows with more work in each piece.
The exhibit addresses themes of corruption and abuse of power. Do you worry that government is now run by corporate cash, rather than representing the needs of the people?
Yes, that’s my biggest concern. Democracy is failing because the influence of corporations means that the average person’s needs are a much lower priority.
Do you hope these works will spark conversation, as the 2016 elections heat up?
I do. One of the most important ideas for me is to not only talk about the policy positions of the candidates. but the way in which the candidates campaign. They need to raise a huge amount of money and that’s where the need for campaign finance reform comes in.
You support campaign finance reform?
It would mean that candidates were not pandering to corporations and special interests but listening to the general populace. Even an idealistic president will be handicapped by a Congress that is looking out for its donors rather than its constituents.
Would “disruptive” art lose some of is power if it was simply made legal?
I think disruption has many dimensions. The courage to do things without permission is important because many laws are biased to favor people with power and money; but it is possible to be disruptive aesthetically, conceptually, while not doing things strictly without permission. And I think that it’s important to understand how to work both inside and outside the system.
How would you describe your methodology?
I’ve employed for many years what I call the “inside / outside” strategy, because I think that every situation presents unique challenges. It requires a sophisticated approach to navigate those challenges while maintaining your beliefs.
